Aski-da took part in France Télévisions’ project to deploy a traffic platform in ST-2110 dedicated to the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Orchestrated by Yannick Olivier, ST-2110 Tech Lead at France Télévisions, this project called on two of our Aski-da experts, Jean Peiffer and Alexandre Bouton.
Jean’s mission is to coordinate the ST-2110 deployment team at France Télévisions, and to develop deployment and migration strategies. Alexandre is assisting Yannick with installation, testing, validation, documentation and training of the France Télévisions teams. They look back on this deployment.
What was at stake in this project?
JEAN: The challenge was the interconnection between OBS (Olympic Broadcast Services) and France Télévisions, enabling the exploitation of uncompressed UHD HDR streams to guarantee the best possible quality from source to broadcast. We also took advantage of the ST-2110’s functionalities to ensure all related needs (exchanges between the HD and UHD worlds, mosaic production, audio processing and management, etc.).
ALEXANDRE: To achieve this, we set up a platform capable of recovering 54 UHD-HDR feeds from OBS quickly and without loss of quality, to make the images available to France Télévisions productions.
The platform was designed to guarantee not only reception of the signals, but also their conversion into various formats. This was essential to meet France Télévisions’ production and broadcast requirements, while offering perfect interoperability within the group’s production ecosystem.
What has the ST-2110 infrastructure enabled?
JEAN: First of all, for the first time, it has enabled us to recover native, uncompressed streams, guaranteeing optimum quality. This technology also makes it easy to relocate the various technical zones in relation to the operational zones. For the occasion, France Télévisions deployed its UHD mobile production resources (UM1 and UM2).
ALEXANDRE: The ST-2110 network was also used to interconnect France Télévisions’ ephemeral JO traffic, specially created for the Olympic Games, to its UM1 OB van, which serves as a continuity OB at France Télévisions headquarters. The other vehicle (UM2) was deployed at the Stade de France for athletics productions. It was also connected to the ST-2110 Olympic Games traffic using a JPEG XS compressed link.
What was your role with France Télévisions?
What was your role with France Télévisions?
JEAN: My role was to propose innovative strategies for covering the event, such as borrowing equipment for current projects rather than renting it out. I also initiated the advance purchase of equipment that would be recycled in various future projects, also to avoid rentals.
I was also in charge of coordinating France Télévisions’ network and operational teams in the implementation of these systems.
ALEXANDRE: For my part, I was involved in setting up the ST-2110 network core, as well as implementing, configuring and testing the JO traffic equipment. Part of my mission also involved writing technical architecture and operating documents, as well as organizing training sessions for the support team. During the event, I provided part of the support for the ST-2110.
What were the key stages?
JEAN: First of all, we opened up the necessary channels of communication between the engineering, operations and IT departments, since the strategy envisaged was so cross-functional. We then defined an action plan and found a physical area for the temporary JO Traffic operation. Work was carried out while we organized the purchases required for the system. The temporary installations were set up with equipment borrowed from projects already underway or purchased for the occasion, the interconnection with OBS was established and testing began.
We also acquired the Cerebrum system and created from scratch an operations control interface, capable of driving both the IP UHD worlds in ST-2110 and the HD worlds in SDI. The tests were completed just hours before the start of the competitions.
What will you personally take away from this project?
ALEXANDRE: The scalability of the newly deployed core network was particularly striking. It’s sometimes at that moment that everything can change. We had the satisfaction of seeing that our platform was able to cope perfectly with the load required to produce the Games. It was a moment of great satisfaction and relief! During the operation of the platform, we didn’t encounter any notable incidents, and we were able to confirm that the 2110 and related standards had reached a sufficient level of maturity to enable production to proceed reliably and serenely.
I’d also like to mention the many constructive exchanges with the France Télévisions teams. The Games were galvanizing for everyone, and the working atmosphere with the JO traffic team was very healthy. You rarely experience the Games twice in your own country, let alone in the program production chain. It was a unique experience.
JEAN: Such a technological transition in such a short space of time is quite a feat. To achieve this, we were fortunate to be surrounded by experts and specialists in every field. What’s more, we didn’t encounter any network problems, just minor inconveniences linked to business products. What I’ll take away from this is that the mastery and talent of specialists is a key factor in the success of such a project. I’m proud to have been able to fit everything in.
How does this project fit in with other perspectives for France Télévisions?
JEAN: This project was a springboard for the deployment of this new technology within France Télévisions. The event helped to reassure many people who were perplexed about the merits of this approach. France Télévisions’ new projects are now all based on ST-2110, with the added aim of deploying infrastructures at remote technical sites.
We’ve also noticed that a number of manufacturers are listening to us and taking advantage of our lead in this field to develop their products to better meet emerging needs. All in all, this is very positive, and helps everyone move forward in a coherent direction.
ALEXANDRE: The ST-2110 infrastructure is not limited to the Games. It paves the way for a future overhaul of France Télévisions’ nodal network, ensuring that content is produced and broadcast according to new quality standards. After the transition of the nodal network, we’ll be able to envisage the migration of production infrastructures at headquarters and in the regions to these new technologies, which bodes very well for the future!
By laying the foundations for a modern infrastructure, France Télévisions and its partners are anticipating future developments in the audiovisual sector with a system ready to evolve to meet production needs.